The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected approximately 530 school districts spanning nearly every state, Washington, D.C., and several Tribes and US territories to receive nearly $900 million in funds from the Clean School Bus Program rebate competition to replace older, diesel fueled school buses.

These rebates will help school districts purchase more than 3,400 clean school buses—92% of which will be electric. To date, the EPA has awarded almost $3 billion to fund approximately 8,500 school bus replacements at more than 1,000 schools.

In September 2023, the EPA announced the availability of at least $500 million for its 2023 Clean School Bus rebates. The rebate application period closed in February 2024 with an overwhelming response from school districts across the country seeking to purchase electric and clean school buses. Given the level of demand, including from low-income communities, Tribal nations and US territories, the EPA doubled the initial amount of available funding in this round to a total of nearly $1 billion.

This third round of funding will build on the previous investments of almost $2 billion via the Clean School Bus Program’s 2022 Rebates and 2023 Grants.

The new selections will provide funds to school districts in 47 states and Washington D.C., along with several federally recognized Tribes and U.S. territories. Prioritized school districts in low-income, rural and Tribal communities make up approximately 45% of the selected projects and will receive approximately 67% of the total funding.

The EPA is also partnering with other federal agencies through the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation to provide school districts with technical assistance to ensure effective implementation.

The EPA is continuing to review selected applications and may make additional awards from this announcement. The EPA is working with those applicants and will notify them of an award if their application meets all program requirements. As additional selections are finalized, the EPA will update the CSB Awards webpage. The EPA will also make selections through additional rounds of funding, as well as through other funding programs.

For example, the EPA is currently accepting applications for the 2024 Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program until 11:59 PM ET on 25 July 2024, with the EPA offering up to $932 million in available grant funding and anticipates approximately 70% of the available funding to help pay for new, zero-emission Class 6 or 7 school buses.

The EPA encourages school districts not selected for the 2023 CSB Rebate Program—and those that did not apply—to participate in currently open funding programs, and future CSB funding rounds.

The EPA Clean School Bus Program was created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides an unprecedented $5 billion of funding to transform the nation’s fleet of school buses. The Clean School Bus Program funds electric buses, which produce zero tailpipe emissions, as well as propane and compressed natural gas (CNG) buses, which produce lower tailpipe emissions compared to their older diesel predecessors.